Peachy is Three!!

Last Thursday we were able to celebrate the three years that Peachy has been a part of our family. And we can't imagine our lives without her. Peachy has blossomed from that tiny newborn to a busy and beautiful little girl. She is full of energy and always doing something. Her absolute favorite thing to do is art projects.

Not a day goes by where the crayons, markers, scissors, glue, paper, or stickers don't come out. Lately her daily practice has really been showing itself in her artwork.

She truly draws now and can also form many of her letters. She is also able to recognize all of her uppercase letters and knows many letter sounds and the words that go with them. It is fun for me to see what she is able to do and where her interests lie as she now is the age of the preschoolers that I taught.

Dressing up is another big part of our days. I have had to limit the number of outfit changes she makes throughout the day in order to cut back on laundry. Her favorite outfits consist of short sleeved shirts and skirts. She is quite the girly-girl favoring jewelry (which she pronounces "glory"), crowns, and items with sparkles.

Independent is a good word to discribe her personality. This has its pluses and minuses. She is able to entertain herself for long stretches of time with her independent play, huge plus! She is also able to dig her heels in and not do anything anyone else suggests, a minus from a  parenting perspective. Her imaginative play has really started to come through in the last month or two, which is such a joy to see.

We are still working on potty training. She will go long stretches staying dry, but then get caught up in her play and forget that she has to go. I am confident that she will master it before she turns four! :o)

She is also a loving big sister. (And little Cream's favorite person.) As a parent it is such a joy seeing her personality emerge more and more with every passing month. What joy this little red headed girl has brought our family! We love you, Peachy!!

Little Miss Mischief

Lately my little Peachy has been keeping me on my toes. I recently made the comment that only a two and a half year old can make parenting an infant seem easy. :o) I find myself praying for the patience and wisdom that I need daily to parent her. Parenting is definitely not for whimps, I tell you.
In addition to the battle of wills we often engage in, here are just a few of the challenges Peachy has presented lately.

She has finally learned to open door knobs. This was bound to happen, but it was so nice to know that I could shut a door and keep her in or out of a certain room. Now when she wakes up in the morning she just comes out of her room and  upstairs. She will also often come into the bathroom while I am showering. Gone are the days of peaceful showers while she contentedly watched a show in the other room. The other morning when I heard her on the monitor and went down to get her up, she was not only up but had gotten herself dressed.

Speaking of getting dressed, this weekend we were at Mr. Cherry's parents' house. We were all sleeping downstairs, but she was in a different room from Mr. Cherry and I. She must have woken up at 10:30 pm and decided that it was high time that she get up and start her day. Without her father or I knowing it, she got up and completely dressed and headed upstairs. She knocked on the upstairs door and when her aunt opened it, there she was very happy and proud of herself.

She also found a pair of scissors this weekend and gave her hair a little trim. Thankfully it was just a little snip, this time. And since she is into hair styling she thought that it would be a good idea to coat her hair in baby lotion while we were getting ready for church.

As someone recently reminded me, at least we know that we have a very healthy and smart little girl. I just have to remind myself of that in the heat of the moment. I also have to remember that Peachy is a curious little girl doing what two year olds do to learn about the world around them. That and take deep breaths with a glass of wine or two.

Peachyisms

Life with a two and a half year old is never dull. Our Peachy is learning and growing everyday. While she has always had great verbal skills, it still amazes me what she can all say now and how well she can communicate. Here are some of the things that we hear coming out of her mouth that make us smile:
-"tosmorning" which means this morning
-"I can't see my eyes." which means that it is dark and she can't see well.
-"Good supper that you made, momma." Peachy has recently started to praise my cooking skills. Whether it be cereal or a home cooked meal.
-"I awake in here." This is what we hear when she awakes in the morning and also sprinkled throughout nap time when she is "trying" to go to sleep.
-"Sisic" Her word for music.
-"Nicnic" Her word for picnic.
-"We'll go to (insert location here) Sunday" After we tell her we might go there someday.

Our Peachy Girl with a pair of training pants as a hat.

One Woman Show

Our Peachy is definitely a girl of her own heart. I love watching what she comes up with to entertain herself. One morning she decided it was time to make up a little show including a dance number and song. Mr Cherry and I just watched her go and go. (One of her moves was to periodically go over and bonk Mr. Cherry on the knee. You can see this at the end.) I grabbed the camera and got a few seconds of the show to share with you.
Here is the video on You Tube.

Projects

Growing up I loved to do projects. Projects could be as simple as sticking stickers or as complex as creating and painting custom shirts. When I started babysitting, I would make sure to bring along projects to keep the kiddos busy. Now that Peachy is getting older, it is fun to come up with projects for her to make. When we were working on barrettes from Pinterest, Peachy kept busy with a project of her own. Someone on Facebook had recently mentioned that their child had loved putting beds on pipe cleaners. I knew I had both beads and pipe cleaners and stashed away the idea for a special day. Peachy kept herself occupied for almost an hour filling up pipe cleaners with wooden beads.

A Little Mischief

Every mother knows the signs. When their child is out of site and it gets just a little too quiet. Every mother knows that they had better go in search of their child, because usually mischief is happening somewhere in the house. I found Peachy in her room with her light on. (The only way I can figure she did this was to stand on her bed, lean over the night stand and reach the switch.) Perhaps in turning the light on she discovered her potty reward stickers. And upon this discover, thought that it would be a good idea to put them on her cheeks.

No, this doesn't rank real high on the mischief scale, but it signals a beginning. I had better keep a close eye and ear on that girl.

Pretty In Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we met up with a friend in the park to get Peachy's two year pictures taken.

 I was hoping for the best as Peachy isn't all that interested in smiling nicely for the camera these days.

The night before I had laid out her outfits and a couple of pinwheels we would use as props.

And when she woke up the next morning, she was so excited to go and get her picture taken.

I was hoping that we could make use of the park's gazebo as soon as we got there, but it was already in use by another photographer.

Instead we headed straight for the playground.

Peachy loved it and it shows in the joy on her face in the pictures.

I did eventually talk her into heading to the gazebo and we grabbed a few pictures there.

The photographer also knew of a flower garden in the park and that is where we ended our session.

I love all of the shots we got that day.

The photographer did a wonderful job as did Peachy.

The range of expressions in truly priceless.

I am so happy to have caught my Little Peachy so clearly at this stage of her life.

Please send me a message if you would like more information regarding the photographer.

Peachy Paints

Last night I while I was working on a few painting projects, Peachy was as well.

As you can see, she takes her art pretty seriously.

It is all work and no play . . .

until Momma tells her to smile.

Tutorial Tuesday Sneak Peek

Many of you have asked for a tutorial of my pillowcase dress. After putting those requests off for almost an entire year, I finally have a tutorial in the works. My plan is to post it TOMORROW!! For now, here is a sneak peek of my little model in the dress I used in the tutorial.

My Mini Me

If you know any two year olds, you know how they study your every move, your every word, every task and then try it out for themselves. Little Peachy is no different. She has been watching me at my "machines" since little on and loves to work at her own "machine."

2 Year Old in the House!!

Two years ago Little Peachy entered our lives and made me a momma. Now we have a sweet, busy, smart, and lovable 2 year old living in our midst.

It is so hard to find the words to describe our Peachy. (I am sure that every parent has this challenge.) She is so complex and never ceases to amaze me. I love that she is now able to use her words so well to talk to us.

 Don't let the little package fool you, a 2 year old is an amazing creation. It seems as if her mind is growing every hour of everyday.

Here are some of the fin things that I want to remember about our Little Peachy girl.
She says, "Come here, Momma." In the cutest little voice that is so hard to deny when she wants me to do something with her.
And when her little voice says, "I love you," it melts my heart every time.

The last few months she has always requested that Mr. Cherry and I sing "Jesus Loves Me" before she goes to sleep. She has picked up the first two lines and walks around the house singing them.
She loves all things baby dolls, but is still a little shy around real babies.
She loves puppies. (I don't have the biggest love of dogs, but have worked hard at not passing this on to my daughter. Apparently I worked a little too hard.)
She love to be outside and has no fear of getting dirty.

She has a fascination with shoes. If we are ever near a shoe department, she starts to take her own shoes off so that she can try shoes on. And if there is ever a pile of shoes, as often happens at entryways, you can be sure to find her trying on the fanciest shoes available.

While she is always doing something, she has a great attention span and will sit and play with the same object for long periods of time.
Our little girl has always had a good appetite. She eats descent amounts of pretty much anything we give her. Lately she has a thing for lemons. She loves that they are sour and after sucking on the lemon slice for a while will eat it. She even dove into her aunt's water glass when we were eating out the other day to get herself a lemon.

Happy 2nd birthday, Peachy!! We love you so, so much and can't wait to see what your future years hold.

All Grown Up

This little girl makes me laugh on a daily basis. Yesterday she was talking about colors. All of a sudden she started talking about a purple hippo. I asked her if she saw a purple hippo. She said yes. When I asked her where, she said that it was all gone now.

This little girl amazes me. Her memory and attention span never cease to amaze me. She was given a coloring page at the grocery store yesterday and told that if she brought it back she would get bubbles. She reminded me all day long. Quite often we stash toys on her window ledge in her room before she goes to bed. We promise her that she can have the toy back when she wakes up in the morning. After a long night of sleep she rarely forgets what treasure is waiting for her and where.

This little girl is a chatter box. I can't believe that our Little Peachy has such a great vocabulary and really can't believe that she most often talks in sentences. Remember that color sheet? Here is what she would say: "Color bunny." "Bring it back." "To grocery store." "Get bubbles."

This little girl has a great imagination. Ordinary objects are transformed in her mind into whatever her mind can dream. No toy phone handy? No problem, she will use her hand. Need a computer in the van? That calculator will come in handy. What about a bathtub or potty chair for her babies? Have a clothes basket or cup around?

This little girl is a tremendous blessing in my life and I am incredibly blessed to be able to stay home with her and enjoy her on a daily basis. I love you, Peanut!